Written Answers Wednesday 12 April 2006

Scottish Executive

Broadcasting

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that local authorities should be able to hold broadcasting licences under the terms of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003.

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities will be promoted as potential licensees of local digital television and radio services within the proposed Culture Bill and what the reasons are for the position on the matter.

Patricia Ferguson: Broadcasting is a reserved matter. However, a Scottish local authority’s provision of information about its activities is a devolved matter.

  The Scottish Executive is working with the Department for Culture Media and Sport to bring Scottish local authorities into the same legal position as local authorities in England and Wales. If the necessary administrative and parliamentary approvals were obtained, this would enable Scottish local authorities to apply for and hold a broadcasting licence on the same basis as local authorities in England and Wales.

Broadcasting

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local television and radio digital services would count as public service broadcasters under the proposed Culture Bill and would thereby be able to access the Public Service Publisher fund.

Patricia Ferguson: No. Broadcasting is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Drug Misuse

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many beds were available for residential drug rehabilitation in each of the last five years, broken down into rehabilitation provided by the (a) NHS, (b) voluntary sector and (c) private sector.

Hugh Henry: Information about residential rehabilitation services provided by Drug Action Teams through Corporate Action Plans is shown in the following table. Services are often offered to people with problems with drugs or alcohol or both and it is not always possible to separate the different treatment pathways. The figures below include services treating only drug misusers and those providing treatment for both drug and alcohol problems. It is not possible to provide a breakdown by provider.

  

 
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


No. of Services
22
28
29
33


No. of Admissions
1115
1943
2547
3902


No. of Beds
244
285
387
493

Drug Misuse

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individual places were available for drug rehabilitation in each of the last five years, broken down into (a) residential and (b) non-residential care.

Hugh Henry: The number of individual places within Scotland is not held centrally.

  However, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22848 on 23 February 2006 which set out the number of residential and non-residential services. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Drug Misuse

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individual places were available for drug rehabilitation in each of the last five years, broken down into rehabilitation provided by the (a) NHS, (b) voluntary sector and (c) private sector.

Hugh Henry: It is not possible to provide a breakdown by provider.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21774 on 24 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Drug Misuse

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals each NHS board has made for drug rehabilitation treatment to be carried out in the (a) voluntary and (b) private sector in each of the last five years.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is not held centrally.

Fisheries

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23727 by Ross Finnie on 16 March 2006, whether the normal time period for consultation is three months and, if so, why this timescale was reduced for the consultation exercise on proposed legislation to provide improved powers for the enforcement of Regulating Orders.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive’s policy is that consultation exercises must allow a minimum of 12 weeks for responses, except in exceptional circumstances. The duration of the consultation exercise on the proposed legislation to provide improved Regulating Order enforcement powers was dictated by exceptional circumstances. These were the pressing need for new enforcement powers to help to tackle alleged illegal fishing on the Solway and the danger to human life which this presents, and the need to meet the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill timetable.

Forestry

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether further funding will be made available to the Forestry Commission in order to cover planting grant applications within locational premium areas during 2006-07.

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all applications for forestry plantings within locational premium areas will be fully granted in 2007-08.

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the final two years of the Scottish Forestry Grant Scheme will be funded to a level that will allow all applications to be granted in full.

Rhona Brankin: Funding has already been included in the Forestry Commission Scotland budget in respect of grant applications for locational premium areas, up to the limits announced, for 2006-07 and 2007-08.

  The budget allocation for the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme is limited in the same way as any other grant scheme. It is therefore not possible to provide an open-ended commitment to meet all applications for the scheme.

  Forestry Commission Scotland is already in discussion with stakeholders on the new forestry grants scheme to fit in with the new Rural Development Regulation, which comes into effect on 1 January 2007. As part of the transition arrangements Forestry Commission Scotland had already indicated a closure date of August 2006. Due to unprecedented demand for grant aid, closure for normal applications has now been brought forward to take immediate effect. Applications for grant aid in Locational Premium areas will still be considered up to August 2006 as originally planned. Forestry Commission Scotland will be issuing a press release later today giving further details.

  Forestry continues to contribute across a wide range of agendas. For its role in relation to climate change we have provided a further £6 million which will take the budget for forestry grants to £26 million for 2006-07, and £28 million for 2007-08.

Fuel Poverty

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pensioners eligible for a Warm Deal grant have been unable to have their homes insulated to an acceptable standard due to their inability to pay the balance of the cost of installing appropriate insulation.

Malcolm Chisholm: We do not have this information.

Fuel Poverty

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider making ad hoc payments in cases where the current £500 Warm Deal grant is insufficient to allow pensioners homes to be insulated to acceptable standards.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have no plans to make ad hoc payments in these cases. Work is being done to maximise the impact of the Warm Deal by ensuring it operates effectively alongside the Energy Efficiency Commitment.

Fuel Poverty

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-24143 by Malcolm Chisholm on 14 March 2006, at what level it will cap the amount of money available for each installation under its central heating programme.

Malcolm Chisholm: The cap for individual installations will initially be set at £3,500 but this will be increased in circumstances where the cost of the lowest priced system exceeds this. The level of the cap will be kept under review to ensure it is still appropriate and adjusted as necessary.

Fuel Poverty

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider index-linking the current Warm Deal grant to inflation to ensure that there is no reduction in the amount of insulation available to pensioners eligible for the scheme.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have no plans to index-link the level of Warm Deal grant to inflation. Work is underway to maximise the impact of Warm Deal including how best to link the scheme more effectively to the Energy Efficiency Commitment to help ensure that people can get the full package of insulation measures they require.

Fuel Poverty

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of older people were defined as suffering from fuel poverty in the last year, based on the definition set out in The Scottish Fuel Poverty Statement , published in August 2002.

Malcolm Chisholm: According to the 2002 Scottish House Condition Survey 24% of households where the highest income householder or their spouse was aged 60 or over were defined as fuel poor. We do not have the figure for last year.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which tenants’ organisations it recognises for consultation purposes.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Executive recognises Registered Tenant Organisations for consultation purposes. We also endeavour to inform and consult with non-registered constituted tenant organisations where their existence is known to us.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any concerns about Communities Scotland’s approach to tenant participation and consultation.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish Executive fully supports Communities Scotland’s approach to tenant participation and consultation, including its assistance to help tenants develop arrangements by which the tenants’ movement can engage with the Executive at a national level.

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to increase the uptake of Rural Home Ownership Grant outwith the Highlands and Islands local authority areas, particularly in Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders and the areas which include the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  
Communities Scotland is taking the following steps to increase the uptake of Rural Home Ownership Grants (RHOGs):
  In Argyll and Bute, in discussion with the Forestry Commission, we have identified sites for the provision of affordable housing including housing funded from RHOG;
  Collective RHOG schemes are being piloted with Registered Social Landlords;
  We are looking at other forms of grant assistance, for example self-build and shared equity;
  Working with Island communities, we are looking at combining a range of funds including RHOG to meet varying housing needs;
  In Scottish Borders, Communities Scotland has entered into an agreement for 2006-07 with Scottish Borders Council to promote and increase the uptake of RHOG. A similar arrangement is planned with Rural Housing Services, and
  In rural Stirling, which includes the eastern shore of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Communities Scotland plans to work with Rural Stirling Housing Association Ltd on the promotion of RHOG.


  More generally, Communities Scotland has recently produced updated Rural Home Ownership Grant brochures to help promote the scheme in rural areas across Scotland.

Housing

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was made available through Communities Scotland for local authority private sector housing grants in 2005-06, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  In 2005-06, £79.302 million has been provided to local authorities through private sector housing grant which included additional resources of £19 million for that year only. This is summarised in the following table:

  

Council
2005-06
(£ Million)



Aberdeen City
2.857


Aberdeenshire
1.574


Angus
1.022


Argyll and Bute
3.791


Clackmannanshire
0.560


Dumfries and Galloway
3.555


Dundee City
2.406


East Ayrshire
1.895


East Dunbartonshire
0.822


East Lothian
1.196


East Renfrewshire
0.887


Edinburgh, City of
7.806


Eilean Siar
4.180


Falkirk
0.761


Fife
1.880


Glasgow City
11.536


Highland
5.226


Inverclyde
1.277


Midlothian
0.296


Moray
1.119


North Ayrshire
1.828


North Lanarkshire
4.117


Orkney Islands
1.396


Perth and Kinross
1.917


Renfrewshire
2.149


Scottish Borders
1.893


Shetland Islands
0.956


South Ayrshire
1.135


South Lanarkshire
5.243


Stirling
1.334


West Dunbartonshire
1.426


West Lothian
1.261


Total
79.302

Housing

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding will be made available through Communities Scotland for local authority private sector housing grants in 2006-07, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  In 2006-07, £67.335 million has been provided to local authorities through Private Sector Housing Grant. This is summarised in the following table:

  

Council
2006-07
(£ Million)



Aberdeen City
2.775


Aberdeenshire
1.284


Angus
1.099


Argyll and Bute
3.187


Clackmannanshire
0.576


Dumfries and Galloway
2.252


Dundee City
2.117


East Ayrshire
0.972


East Dunbartonshire
0.809


East Lothian
1.410


East Renfrewshire
0.566


Edinburgh, City of
6.893


Eilean Siar
3.365


Falkirk
0.975


Fife
1.448


Glasgow City
10.447


Highland
4.436


Inverclyde
1.223


Midlothian
0.497


Moray
1.265


North Ayrshire
1.271


North Lanarkshire
2.603


Orkney Islands
1.138


Perth and Kinross
1.800


Renfrewshire
1.685


Scottish Borders
1.253


Shetland Islands
0.845


South Ayrshire
1.182


South Lanarkshire
4.801


Stirling
1.129


West Dunbartonshire
0.790


West Lothian
1.242


Total
67.335



  In addition to the above funding, an additional £1 million will be allocated for gypsy/traveller sites following the assessment of bids which have been received.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23961 by Malcolm Chisholm on 16 March 2006, how many of the new homes built for social rent since 1992 have been built as council houses, broken down by local authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following table shows local authority new build completions for 1992 to 2004, broken down by local authority area. In compiling the data for this table, an error has been found in the previous table supplied in the answer to question S2W-23961 on 16 March 2006. Corrected data relating to this answer has been supplied in a second table.

  Local Authority New Build Completions; 1992 to 2004 by Local Authority Area

  

Local Authority Area
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Scotland
640
438
528
483
205
127
139
81
95
54
24
0
0


Aberdeen City
57
64
20
0
87
50
0
0
0
18
27
53
0


Aberdeenshire
118
123
41
63
59
0
11
46
0
0
0
0
0


Angus
47
0
0
37
0
27
48
0
0
0
0
0
0


Argyll and Bute
54
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Clackmannanshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
93
66
117
21
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dundee
0
0
21
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


East Ayrshire
0
0
7
32
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


East Dunbartonshire
16
0
0
41
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


East Lothian
0
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


East Renfrewshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Edinburgh
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Eilean Siar
2
12
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Falkirk
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Fife
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0


Glasgow
0
0
0
0
27
0
0
5
89
0
18
0
0


Highland
82
134
170
88
32
42
5
12
0
0
1
0
0


Inverclyde
0
0
0
0
0
0
19
0
0
0
0
0
0


Midlothian
22
12
26
0
22
26
36
17
4
24
0
0
0


Moray
38
23
39
15
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


North Ayrshire
20
0
0
8
15
3
0
0
0
0
5
0
0


North Lanarkshire
70
0
4
67
0
0
0
0
0
30
0
0
0


Orkney
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Perth and Kinross
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Renfrewshire
0
0
18
74
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Scottish Borders
6
23
0
16
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Shetland
32
16
12
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


South Ayrshire
35
8
20
0
20
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


South Lanarkshire
0
0
30
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Stirling
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


West Dunbartonshire
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


West Lothian
0
0
21
13
20
28
20
0
0
0
0
0
0



  New Dwellings Completed in the Social Sector by Local Authority Area; 1992 to 2004 (Corrected)

  

Local Authority Area
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Scotland
3,194
3,510
3,450
6,011
2,858
4,684
2,050
4,992
4,989
5,574
5,171
3,992
3,483


Aberdeen City
269
178
42
452
157
327
21
115
98
203
79
169
98


Aberdeenshire
185
181
156
209
152
291
43
226
116
176
199
211
169


Angus 
86
35
110
169
110
179
159
119
110
67
167
43
100


Argyll and Bute
75
73
51
31
3
91
199
112
121
105
4
59
72


Clackmannanshire
50
0
124
0
32
0
18
39
59
0
72
28
50


Dumfries and Galloway
194
173
128
188
34
202
14
179
69
197
77
96
109


Dundee
236
303
332
147
185
305
70
242
231
106
302
72
353


East Ayrshire
10
46
105
107
22
29
60
32
20
147
4
98
6


East Dunbartonshire
16
0
0
88
10
0
22
15
24
55
10
4
7


East Lothian 
26
69
23
93
16
22
19
61
79
9
18
14
16


East Renfrewshire
0
0
0
0
27
17
0
84
126
41
0
30
15


Edinburgh
225
156
247
828
104
351
132
576
521
545
511
156
228


Eilean Siar
19
16
16
24
7
4
8
1
11
14
22
13
19


Falkirk 
43
64
45
65
7
62
28
73
14
97
68
34
1


Fife
238
447
225
520
171
365
119
410
176
186
335
194
124


Glasgow
189
112
191
482
461
785
358
839
1,248
1,841
1,262
1,496
886


Highland
186
381
458
200
206
219
70
138
221
125
158
147
159


Inverclyde 
0
0
30
72
112
0
136
93
248
119
141
101
103


Midlothian 
22
80
45
19
49
97
48
64
4
52
12
31
14


Moray 
52
84
39
35
84
101
17
30
30
26
33
2
8


North Ayrshire
123
116
77
413
68
28
26
149
67
76
69
83
25


North Lanarkshire
163
187
186
355
160
261
80
334
277
296
360
131
114


Orkney 
64
40
38
21
53
12
0
14
29
52
44
24
34


Perth and Kinross 
127
53
176
139
98
267
119
182
193
100
215
176
122


Renfrewshire 
95
80
112
157
253
94
0
92
167
152
155
48
182


Scottish Borders
29
77
18
307
8
20
123
83
101
88
85
44
76


Shetland 
37
16
12
10
0
0
0
56
14
22
14
1
6


South Ayrshire
68
8
134
125
95
0
73
68
61
64
131
74
70


South Lanarkshire
132
258
179
377
65
206
24
61
274
126
316
103
196


Stirling 
58
96
26
82
28
56
0
85
83
62
106
84
27


West Dunbartonshire 
120
94
81
84
45
0
0
213
92
263
182
136
19


West Lothian 
57
87
44
212
36
293
64
207
105
162
20
90
75

Housing

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive who organised the National Tenants’ Conference held on 20 March 2006 in the Hilton Grosvenor Hotel, Edinburgh and who attended the conference.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The National Tenants’ Conference was organised by the National Engagement Working Group comprising 17 representatives of registered tenants’ organisations in Scotland and was facilitated by Communities Scotland’s Tenant Participation Development Team. The Chartered Institute of Housing provided administration for the conference. The conference was held to present the findings to registered tenant organisations of the outcome of consultation on national engagement. One hundred and nineteen tenant representatives from registered tenant organisations across Scotland attended.

Housing

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses owned by the City of Edinburgh Council have been demolished in each year since 2001

Malcolm Chisholm: The following table shows the number of dwellings owned by the city of Edinburgh council which have been demolished from 2001-02 to 2004-05.

  Demolitions of Dwellings Owned by the City of Edinburgh Council;

  2001-02 to 2004-05

  

Year
Demolitions


2001-02
427


2002-03
410


2003-04
165


2004-05
203



  Source: Scottish Executive Development Department: Stock 4 return.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the statement made by the First Minister in Parliament on 9 February 2006 that "the substantial financial settlement that was reached was appropriate" ( Official Report c. 23255), when it reached the conclusion that it was the appropriate amount to settle for, who took this decision and on what criteria, what settlement amounts it offered during each stage of the negotiations with Shirley McKie, why it took six years between recognising that the original allegations against Shirley McKie were false and reaching this settlement, why the amounts were changed and what criteria were applied at each stage to change the amount offered.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the First Minister’s statement to Parliament on 9 February 2006 that, with reference to the Shirley McKie case, "it is right to ensure that the family are compensated for what they have gone through" ( Official Report c. 23225), when it decided that this was the case and why the family had to wait the time that they did for compensation.

Cathy Jamieson: When proceedings were first raised it was not clear what the legal basis of claim was and whether the action should be directed against the Strathclyde Joint Police Board or against Scottish ministers. Some of these issues were resolved by discussions between the parties and some were resolved after a legal debate before the court. Ms McKie’s representatives made a number of changes to her case.

  Following resolution of these issues, I took the decision in June 2005 to seek a settlement. The Executive made a number of attempts to secure a settlement and there were discussions between solicitors from the moment we indicated our willingness to settle. Expert evidence was obtained and exchanged by both sides, including medical and actuarial advice to enable the claim to be quantified. During these exchanges Ms McKie’s legal representatives increased her claim from £750,000 to £1.2 million. There was a significant difference between the parties as to the value of the claim and, as often happens in litigation, the case was settled at a figure which involved a degree of compromise on both sides. The Court of Session ruled on 30 March that the Scottish Executive’s conduct of the case and of the settlement negotiations was neither unreasonable nor in any way reprehensible.

Justice

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances a plea of culpable homicide can be accepted when an individual has been charged with murder.

Elish Angiolini QC: The crime of murder is committed where the accused has acted either with the intention to kill the deceased or has been wickedly reckless as to the consequence of those actions that resulted in the death. The crime of culpable homicide applies in cases where the degree of culpability falls short of that in murder. This may arise for many reasons, but might apply, for example, in cases where death is not caused intentionally and the violent acts were of a kind which would not have been expected to lead to death, in cases where responsibility is diminished because of mental illness or in cases where there has been provocation. It can also apply where death has resulted from a culpable act which is not in itself violent, for example in consequence of supply of drugs or a faulty gas installation.

  Where an accused person has been indicted for murder, the Crown will accept a plea of guilty to culpable homicide when that plea is considered to be appropriate in light of the available evidence and it is in the public interest to accept the plea, but, because of the seriousness of the crime, decisions to accept a plea of guilty to culpable homicide in these circumstances are always taken after consultation with me or the Solicitor General.